Have your say

Incredible behaviour

Lindor Reynolds' Feb. 18 article, 'It was like an abduction,' is incredible, to say the least. How is it possible that this could happen today? Is there no one supervising Child and Family Services workers?

How can two people abduct three children without giving a full explanation to the parents, with nothing on paper or no interpreters on hand? It kind of harkens back to the days when government officials abducted native children and gave them to Caucasian families.

There should be a full accounting on this debacle. Is this going on in other homes with parents who don't have advocates to speak for them?

JOHN BROWN

St. François Xavier

The treatment of the Burmese refugee family at the hands of CFS is inexcusable. It is undisputed that the position of a child welfare worker is challenging. However, it is their chosen profession, and the challenges do not excuse the behaviour of the child welfare workers described in this article.

It clearly demonstrates a lack of compassion and understanding of the family unit. The trauma this family experienced is not unique to Manitoba child welfare agencies. Sadly, there are countless such stories from those who have encountered child protection practices across this country.

The commando-style apprehension, followed by lack of timely justification for such an action, is common practice. Families are left intimidated, vulnerable and threatened. They fear further reprisal from the agency should they ask for rationale for decisions made with regard to care of their children.

Child welfare agencies operate autonomously. In most cases, neither the Children's Advocate nor ombudsman are able to investigate the handling of a case. Those with concerns are directed to the general authority, which is simply an extension of the agency.

Thankfully, this family had advocates to help navigate this convoluted system. It has also provided a voice for many families who have been subjected to such insensitivities.

BEVERLY McINTYRE-KWIATKOWSKI

Regina

Bailout strategy

Re: Greek bailout gets OK: diplomat (Feb. 21). We definitely should bail out the European economy. We should do it, however, in a way that won't hurt our wallets.

We should do it slowly enough that over the next couple of years we can gradually increase the price of things that are made locally, instead of increasing the prices of things that are made abroad. By doing this, we can still pay off the bailout and yet have a healthy economy.

DANIEL MULDER

Winnipeg

Too much to ask

In the same week that the Conservative majority celebrated killing the long-gun registry as an undue invasion of privacy, it tabled a bill that will allow authorities unprecedented access to our lives through online tracking. It is apparently too much to ask that someone who wants to own a weapon tell the authorities what they have and where they live. But potentially every last detail of our lives without our permission or even knowledge is up for grabs.

KATE KEHLER

Winnipeg

Types of torture

In his Feb. 18 column, To defuse the ticking time bomb of torture, Andrew Coyne ignores a significant aspect of torture when he says, "(I)f torture never worked, it would seem strange so many countries make use of it."

Torture is not always about getting information. Torture is also about inflicting pain on real or perceived enemies for revenge, or just for the sake of hurting them. It's about power, dominance and teaching those enemies a lesson.

I'm looking at a picture (in The Coming of the Third Reich, by Richard J. Evans) of Communists chained to the wall in 1933, awaiting torture at the hands of the brownshirts. I don't think the storm trooper holding the rifle has a desire for information on his mind; he just wants to humiliate and then hurt these enemies.

This complicates Coyne's argument. Now we have to sort out which torture is for information purposes and which is just for fun (for the perpetrator, not the recipient). And if information obtained through fun torture happens to be valuable, do we also consider that morally good?

Coyne's a good economist. If the demand for information obtained under torture dries up, then the supply will collapse, too. Then we'll be left with just bad torture, which I assume most people will find reprehensible.

IAN TOAL

Winnipeg

Clawback priorities

The Feb. 15 letter Lower clawback level needs to be taken further. Mary Holmen is correct: The clawback of old age security benefits begins with an annual income of $69,000. What isn't noted is that it isn't completely clawed back until an individual's annual income reaches $112,000.

Why is the Harper government even discussing raising the OAS eligibility age from 65 to 67, which could cause some low-income people to delay retirement, when they are not discussing the retirees with annual incomes of $100,000 who still receive OAS cheques each month?

AL CERILLI

Winnipeg

Societal erosion

Re: Feeding the snake (Feb. 16). People need to understand the power and perils of vice, and I don't apologize for using hyperbole to illustrate my point. I purposely painted a vivid picture of the debauchery, death and social decay that would plague society if lawlessness ever takes hold.

Should we cease to nurture our virtues and good character, modern society will rapidly erode and crumble as people collectively indulge their pride, vanity, lust and greed without regard for the consequences.

It is only when free will is compromised that the hold of vice begins to manifest itself: economic servitude to the one per cent, wars for profit, government-induced tyranny, corruption of public officials, addictions of our celebrities, inability to keep families together, etc. You don't have to be living in Greece, the cradle of western civilization, to realize that modern society is heading toward an abrupt and violent end.

GORDON WARREN

Winnipeg

Unverified contention

Regarding the Feb. 18 article Let's all replace NIMBY with harmony, I would say that Mike Moore's prejudices are showing. His contention that there are too many community clubs, curling rinks, ice rinks and golf courses is unverified.

He misses the main point that concerns the citizens and users of these facilities -- that the deals appear to be made in the backroom with little or no input from the other stakeholders. Our elected officials and city managers have failed miserably in putting forward a vision for the city.

There is significant empty and infill space in Winnipeg to cover his projected 180,000 increase in population over the next 20 years, if this should ever come to pass. Perhaps what we need is fewer big-box stores.

Neighbourhoods ebb and flow as populations age and usage of facilities change. But once the green space and facilities are sold in these areas to private individuals, there is no recovery.

LAURENCE HILEY

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 22, 2012 A11